Tal - Maqluba
by Astorian
Summary: Harry Potter messed with something he shouldn't have, now he's in a world with pushy Avengers, people after his magic and oh he looks like a preschooler. Should have stayed away from Malta...
1. The-Man-Who-Conquered

Everything you recognize is not mine unfortunately... its all Rowling's and Marvels,

It had not been a good morning for Harry Potter. While he had his share of inconvenient luck such as running out of floo powder when he was already late for work, Harry secretly enjoyed having normal people problems. In fact he much preferred them to some of the more unusual problems he had like being followed by a mob of star struck girls. It put his Gryffindor bravery to shame.

So on a slightly overcast Wednesday the savior of the wizarding world scampered away from his table at the leaky cauldron where he had hoped for a quick breakfast before work. A crowd of females clustering through the door, all hoping to talk to the Man-Who-Conquered, well if he really thought about it talking to him would probably not be their highest priority.

He shouted an apology to Tom and quickly made his escape, casting a regretful look at the half eaten omelette on his table.

Apparating directly into the ministry lobby Harry drew his auror robes out of his mokeskin pouch and donned them. His uniform requirement boots magically made no sound as he made his way across the marble floor to the elevator; smiling at the few workers that were around this early in the day.

Even after all these years Harry was always struck by the memory of his first few rides in the elevator. First to his trial, later as a disguised undesirable number one, he didn't really get a good start with the ministry. Then again the ministry had changed much since the war days, for one thing the horrid statue that was once in the middle of the fountain was gone.

Exiting the elevator and heading to the bullpen, Harry found his cubicle and settled in to complete some paperwork. At least one good thing came from being almost mobbed this morning; he could get the paperwork done early. Smiling to himself Harry decided that even though it was sometimes boring being an Auror was far better than being the Boy-Who-Lived.

With his head bent over a report for a low key raid last week, Harry didn't notice that someone else had entered the floor. He did notice however when that someone jabbed him in the side of the face making Harry jump about a meter in the air.

"Oi, I've been standing here for about five minutes, you were concentrating harder than Hermione"

Harry looked up and grinned at his best friend.

"Ron you're here early, I would've thought you would've tried to stay home and sleep while you could" Harry said.

"Trust me, I'd have more luck trying to sleep here" Ron said dragging his chair over to Harry's

"I don't know how Hermione does it but I couldn't stand another minute with the screaming little banshee". He continued

Harry laughed, Rose did seem quite like a banshee at times, according to Ron and Hermione mainly at two in the morning.

"How on earth did you get Hermione to let you leave early?" Harry asked.

"I don't need permission to come into work Harry!" Ron said indignantly

Harry raised his eyebrow skeptically.

"Well I might have mentioned an urgent report on illegal wurg imports" Ron said with a dramatic sigh.

Harry snorted, "Good call, I haven't heard anything about them yet, I'm not sure anyone else has either… you should probably mention them to the head".

Ron leaned back on his chair with his arms behind his head.

"you shouldn't be so smug. How about your own reason for being early hmm?" Ron said, smiling evilly.

Harry stiffened slightly and looked at Ron suspiciously.

"What about it?" he asked

Ron broke out into a laugh,

"You should know by now that everything you do people are going to find out about. I imagine the Prophet is already printing issues with stories of your ordeal, 'Harry Potter Mobbed While Eating Omelette'."

Red faced Harry glared at Ron, knowing it was probably true. After the war Harry had been more famed than ever. Situations like this were so common that he had taken to leaving his house in disguise.

"You really need to settle down Harry, they wont stop while they still have hope" Ron continued with mock seriousness.

"Yeah right, they'd probably just kidnap her and use polyjuice everyday" Harry said shuddering.

Ron stopped teasing Harry and has a moment of true seriousness.

"Why don't you head away for a while? You've hardly left the country. You should take Kingsley's offer and head to Malta."

Harry thought for a moment

"What just leave my job and go teach others how to hunt dark wizards? What about you guys?" Harry said as though his mind was already made up.

Ron sighed and smiled, "still the same answer then. You know we can probably handle things around here without you for a while. The wizarding world isn't going to hold it against you. They do owe you quite a bit Harry, a little time off work here should be okay." Ron said, "and Hermione and I can take care of each other."

Harry ran a hand through his hair, messing the already wild mop.

"I'll think about it"

"Yeah, yeah, you'll think about it" Ron said as he heard the same answer as the last few times he had attempted.

Their conversation ended and they both turned to their respective paperwork. As more and more people started trickling in for work Harry completed the reports and after several hours, a few cups of coffee and an exploding doorknob Ron and Harry left for lunch.

"Mate i know we usually just go into London, but in return for escaping Rosie i may have promised to come home for lunch" Ron said sheepishly, "and i said i would bring you"

Harry shrugged, "It'll be good to see Hermione and Rose, we should have enough time."

Ron laughed, "like you don't see us much anyway".

Harry joined in the laughter and they both headed over to the employee fireplaces.

Brushing the soot of his cloak Harry entered the Weasley living room. Currently it was littered with toys and rubbish and it smelt faintly of vomit. It quite clearly showed evidence of the youngest Weasley.

A slightly frazzled Hermione entered and before Harry or Ron could say anything she whipped out her wand and whispered furiously, "He who speak loudly will be cursed into oblivion. Rosie has only just gone to sleep."

Ron and Harry shared frightened looks before following Hermione into the kitchen and sitting down at the table.

"So how have you been Harry?" she asked while bringing food to the table (a bowl in her hands and an assortment of food floating merrily behind her)

As the table set itself Harry answered, "I'm fine, haven't been too busy . Mainly just filling out seemingly endless piles of paperwork that no one will ever see again. There has been some small scale stuff but nothing that would have been in the Auror's departement a few years ago."

Hermione smiled, "i guess compared to Voldemort Wurg imports would've seemed a bit silly."

As Ron suddenly became very interested in some mashed potato's Harry got up grinning to let an owl in that was tapping at the window.

It got a knut from Hermione before dropping the paper in the sausages and flying out again. Frowning at the bird Ron grabbed the paper and quickly scourified it.

"Whats happening in the world then Ron?" Harry asked while helping himself to salad.

The Daily Prophet had become far more accurate (though no less obsessed with Harry) and as the only real wizarding paper it still remained quite popular.

Ron read through the paper, while still managing to stuff food into his mouth with his other hand. About halfway through his eyes widened and he started laughing, which soon turned into chocking on a bit of sausage.  
After a few minutes of wheezing and spluttering Ron recovered enough hand over a section of the paper to Harry.

"i don't believe it." Harry said

Still wheezing Ron said, "I did" and continued laughing "at least its not the front page" and collapsed over his plate shaking with mirth.

"What are you talking about?" Hermione said before leaning over and looking at the paper in Harry's hand.

'The-Man-Who-Conquered attacked by Mob'

Hermione stifled a laugh as Harry banged his head on the table

"Thats it i'm going to Malta.


	2. The-Man-Who-Left

After Harry had finished the fateful lunch in which Rosie soon woke up to the sound of head banging. Harry and Ron fled back to the office.  
Harry got a nudge in the back and a pointed look from Ron towards Minister Shaklebolts office.

Without being asked why he was there the receptionist waved him through. Harry entered and at Kingsley's beckoning took a seat in the simple but tastefully decorated room.

"What can I do for you Harry?" the Minister of Magic asked him in his smooth voice.

"I was thinking of taking up your offer sir." Harry said. "About Malta"

"I was hoping you would, it appears to be dangerous times to be the Man-Who-Conquered here in England." Kingsley replied with a smile, placing his hand on a newspaper.

Harry scowled, "It's not funny."

"Indeed it isn't Harry. Which is why i am so pleased you will be getting the chance to go away for a while. It will do you , and the rest of the wizarding world good". Kingsley replied, "I will make the necessary arrangements, it's surprisingly easy to get paperwork through the systems when it concerns you Harry"

Harry, sensing that as his cue to leave stood up, thanking the Minister.

* * *

Only a few days later found Harry packed and ready to go. The paperwork had gone through and he had said he goodbyes to almost everyone.

Sniffing Hermione leaned in to hug Harry, "Be careful Harry" she said,

"I'll be fine, i'm an Auror i can take care of myself for a few weeks, you won't even notice i'm gone" Harry said as he carefully lifted Rose into his arms.

Harry said goodbye to his goddaughter and Ron leaned over smiling sappily at his daughter, "Mate she can't understand a thing you're saying" he told Harry before being hit in the arm by his wife.

"Be quite Ronald, you talk to her all the time, she's probably very intelligent" Hermione said as she fondly smiled at the baby in her best friends arms.

Smiling Harry handed Rosie back,

"only if she got your brains Hermione" he said before giving Ron a very manly hug.

"Don't do anything too stupid while i'm gone" Harry joked.

Ron laughed, How could I, you seem to be forgetting that it's just you who attracts trouble. I'm the innocent who gets dragged into it!" he said "Have a good time, and don't forget about us too quickly"

"Write as much as you can Harry" Hermione added

Harry laughed and they leaned in for a final hug, "Take care of each other, and don't forget to spoil my goddaughter while i'm gone"

He released them and grabbed a handful of powder needed for the long distance floo.

"I'll miss you" he said before throwing in the powder and dissapearing into the flames.

Ron and Hermione stared at where he had been for a moment before Rosie's peircing screech ruined the moment and Ron unsucessfully tried to make her stop,

"I think we all know the real reason Harry decided to leave you little Mandrake" Ron said before taking Hermione's hand and heading home.

* * *

Harry felt queasy after landing in Malta, stumbling a few steps and feeling extremely proud of himself that he had stayed on his feet. Even after all these years he had hardly gotten used to normal flooing and long distance was by far his least favourite way of travelling.

"Harry Potter it is an honour to meet you." Head still spinning Harry turned towards the awestruck voice and meet the eyes of a man who must have been around his age with broad shoulders; he would have been a good beater if he played Quidditch Harry thought.

"My name is Erasmus Sobel, and we'll be working together while you're here".

Pumping his arm up and down enthusiasm the light haired Sobel grinned at looked scarily happy at having meet Harry.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too. You must have been having quite the problem with dark wizards around here for the news to reach England." Harry said

"England has been hearing right Auror, we have been trying for some time to apprehend them but they are proving very adept at evasion, the attacks are not getting any pleasanter and we aren't very close to catching them." Finally releasing Harry's arm, "You must also understand we just don't have the man power of countries like England. We feel having you here will make all the difference." Sobel stated.

"Not too much pressure on me then" Harry said smiling at Sobel before asking, curious about the amount of knowledge Malta Auror's had on the attacks. "Do you have any leads to suspects? Or where their base is?"

At that Sobel looked fearful, "we don't know who is involved but it could only be the darkest of wizards if they are indeed going to where we fear. The Tal-Maqluba."

He whispered the last part of the sentence so quietly that Harry almost missed it. He said it in a way that reminded Harry of people talking about Voldemort during the war. With growing intrigue and a bit of apprehension Harry asked,

"What is the Tal-Maqluba?"

Erasmus Sobel shuddered, "It is a cursed place Auror Potter, no sane person would enter it" he then changed the subject with obvious relief. "Please let us speak no more of it, you have only just arrived and all we have talked of is work. I will show you to your lodgings and introduce you to the rest of the team" he said very clearly finished with the subject of Tal-Maqluba

Harry was shown to a well-furnished but small flat that had all the basics. Waving off the apologies of Sobel on the size of the place Harry insisted that it was perfect. Really it was all he needed; it wasn't that much smaller than his own place back in England. Telling Sobel that he would unpack later (carrying his luggage in a mokeskin pouch really made travelling easier) they left to meet the team.

His new place was even better than he though because as Harry discovered instead of flooing or apparating to the Malta Auror Office, they walked out the front door, down the street and entered an out of order public toilet in the middle of a park only a couple minutes' walk away. Following Sobel they entered a stall and walked into a what looked like a cross between a lounge and an office.

Three wizards who had previously been sitting on a couch (a pack of cards being hurriedly shoved behind a cushion) had jumped up and were now standing looking at Harry eagerly. Harry was then introduced to the department, Jasper Diodes, Nealen Cumulos and a man who introduced himself only as Red (which Harry found quite confusing as there was nothing distinctly red about the man at all who was paler that himself with white hair).

Harry couldn't help but get the impression this wasn't a very well used department. The four seemed competent and eager to please which Harry still found strange coming from men who were far older (Sobel seemed to be the youngest member of the team).

"Thanks for inviting me to join your department; I'm glad that I'm going to be able to help out Malta." Harry said then eager to get started straight away continued, "What do you know about the attacks? And what excactly is Tal-Maqluba?"

Harry was unprepared for the reaction of the team. As Cumulos went pale, Sobel flinched and looked guilty, Diodes yelped,

"Don't say it! The very name is cursed. Sobel you fool! You shouldn't have spoken of it"

Sobel apologised meekly avoiding eye contact with the grey and grizzled oldest member of the department.

Harry began to feel a little deja– vu, "Fear of the name only incr-"

He was cut off by Diodes, "This is not like your Voldemort Mr Potter, it is cursed. It is so dreaded it has made its way into muggle legends, so great was the destruction of that place." He said in a tone that reminded him eerily of Minerva. "An entire village destroyed , all that is left is a hole now filled with trees that grow twisted in the poisoned land."

Harry decided to be diplomatic and not press the issue. It was after all his first day here. Deciding he would write to Hermione and see what she thought he tried a different tactic with the men.

"I apologise, I admit I know nothing on the subject, but if dark wizards are truly hiding there you should be prepared to face it." He said.

Cumulos replied, "I agree," he said reluctantly before adding, "But we should make sure they are actually going there first."

Red spoke up for the first time, "Perhaps seeing as its your first day here we should leave this till tomorrow. You should have some time to settle in."

Feeling a little ganged up on Harry nodded appreciating the sympathetic look Sobel was giving him. With no small amount of frustration Harry hoped they really would tell him what he needed to know. If Tal-Maqluba was the worst possible place for dark wizards to go, no doubt they would go there.


	3. The-Man-Who-Really-Left

**I still don't own anything... **

* * *

After a week and a half Harry would have began to wonder if the attacks were just being made up if it wasn't for the large amounts of destruction being left behind. They were still being as vague as Dumbledore about the Tal-Maqluba, he couldn't get a straight answer out of them and the frustration was building.

Harry was almost relieved when someone apparated straight into his temporary home announcing an attack (even if it made him throw his toast at the could be attacker). Cumulos good naturedly brushed off the crumbs and hurried towards Harry before they apparated to a remote farm that appeared to be smoking.  
Moving quietly in they were joined by Sobel. Breathing heavily Sobel told them that Diodes and Red were taking the back.

Edging around the corner of the burning farmhouse Harry gave Sobel a questioning look,

"There's no one in it sir" Sobel said.

Nodding Harry continued rounding the corner.  
Harry held up a hand to signal the others when he spotted a group of three wizards. He opened his mouth to begin casting when they dropped, disappearing.  
Turning to the others to make sure he wasn't hallucinating Cumulos said,

"I saw that too sir, there was no noise to it couldn't have been disapparating."

Harry frowned, that must mean they were still there. Signalling the others forward Harry went to investigate.

He had found where they went. It was a valley, or more accurately a hole, it's steep almost cliff like edges explained how the wizards had fallen away. Sitting on the very edge of the cliff on the other side was a small church; decripit and unused looking.

Without looking at Sobel or Cumulos, Harry motioned them on and began his descent, following where the targets had gone. Harry didn't look back so he didn't see the fearful looks Sobel and Cumulos shared before joining him.

* * *

Approaching the bottom Harry cringed as Cumulos lost him footing and tumbled the last meter or so, loosing a collection of rocks and dirt on his way. Hoping their targets had hearing problems so they wouldn't hear them coming Harry checked on Cumulos. After being waved off by the blushing and apologetic wizard Harry retook his position at the front of their small triangle formation.

Moving forward in the bottom of the valley was almost as easy as climbing down the cliff faces. The valley floor was full of trees with long and reaching branches that created nearly impassable obstacles. They cut at their skin and robes and after a frustrating five minutes Harry huffed and drew off his robe, stowing it in his mokeskin.  
After the other two had followed his lead and removed their now torn and dirty robes Harry stilled their movements with a gesture.  
Another hand signal later and the three of them were on high alert for Harry thought he had heard a branch snap under foot.  
Edging around a moss covered boulder with his wand out straight, curses ran through his head. So when he finally saw the person that had made the alerting noise Harry had to bite his tongue not to cast.

"Diodes?" Harry whispered furiously, "You should not be here. You need to be-"

Harry was cut off by Diodes.

"We should not be here, we all need to leave now" Diodes said in a terrified whisper.

Taken aback by the clear terror in the older man Harry hesitated before answering.

"We are so close to the attackers! It is our job to go into places that ar-"

Harry was again cut off. This time not by Diodes but by the ground; rumbling beneith their feet.

Whimpering Diodes took one last look at Harry, "The very earth will rise up against you", he said before disappearing with a 'crack'.

White faced and shaking Cumulos followed a second later.

"We must go, do not linger!" Sobel said with a curious expression of half terrified and half apologetic before he too apparated; leaving Harry alone.

Shocked at the sudden desertion of the Malta Aurors Harry prepared to apparate back to the headquarters and talk some sense into them. However before he did the ground heaved and he was thrown sideways. Going through a line of trees Harry landed in the only clear part of the forest he had seen so far. Unable to get to his feet at the ground rolled and rumbled Harry desperately looked for where his wand had fallen. Spying it only a few meters away Harry summoned it to him. As the wand reached him the ground gave and almighty roar and Harry Potter's world was swamped in darkness and he was taken into the grounds of the Tal-Maqluba.

* * *

**Hey guys, a really short chapter I know but i am already working on the next one which should be up soon. If you wanted to know Tal-Maqluba is a real place, you can look it up.**

**Anyway hope you're enjoying it so far, and I am loving the reviews :) keep em coming!**


	4. The-Man-Who-Was-Found

Maxwell Dawkins is a man who understands the importance of secrets. He prided himself on knowing everyone's around him without giving away any from his valuable collection. It was this quality that led him into being in the employment of the man known only by his name and reputation; Charles Huxley.  
It was this man that Maxwell left his secrets too. He or anyone else he knew had ever seen the face of his employer. For most of the organisation and its members, Maxwell was the face of the organisation and it was times like these that Maxwell loves his job as go-between for his mysterious boss and everyone else. He had very good news.

Walking down the handsomely decorated corridor Maxwell allowed himself a second to admire the apparent wealth on display before letting himself into the office.

"I have good news" he said.

A screen flickered on the wall and the image of a man shrouded in shadows appeared.

"How good Maxwell?"

Resisting the urge to grin like an idiot Maxwell kept his strong jawed face smooth.

"The best sir." he replied.

The man on the screen straightened and asked,

"Are you sure?" his boss's voice slightly louder with the increasing hope.

"The evidence seems to all point to the right conclusion. The subject is currently unconscious and being held in our facility in America. Magnus managed to get the subject from Malta undetected." Maxwell replied.

Leaning forward and pressing his hands together Charles Huxley managed to express his excitement and anticipation with his face hidden by shadow.

"Who has Magnus got working on the subject?" Huxley asked.

"He called in the best, Elsdon, Musgrave and Hedley" he said, "I have also been told that they are keeping the subject under sedation until they are sure they know how to suppress any abilities shown" Maxwell finished.

Huxley stood and walked behind the chair on the screen .

"He has done well, as have you Maxwell". Huxley stated.

Maxwell Dawkins recognizing his dismissal stood, thanked his boss and left the office, allowed himself a small smile before preparing himself to continue thier work.

* * *

Not far from the supposed home of the mysterious Charles Huxley was a dusty and deserted old storage shed. It wasn't very good at what it was originally built for but it more than accommodated for the needs of the precious few who knew of its existence. It was under this shed that three scientists had been working non-stop since they received the call out the day before. All three had accepted without hesitation. To do otherwise was foolish and could possibly lead to a early death. Besides this project would undoubtedly be the biggest either of them would ever work on.  
They had all the equipment money could buy and they were very prepared to use it on the subject.

Fern Elsdon was the only female on the team though her two male workmates were in no danger of being distracted from their jobs. With her thin blonde hair pulled back harshly to reveal pointy features and cold dark eyes un-surrounded by wrinkles. Her face was not smooth from youth but from the seemingly permanent expressionless look she wore.

At this moment it was Fern Elsdon's job to constantly watch the subject for any changes so as the fingers on the subjects right hand began to twitch she turned, hawk like, and sent a message to her co-workers pagers.

* * *

Harry felt disconnected. Almost like he knew he should be panicking, or thinking about something important, maybe he was meant to be doing something? Whatever it was, he couldn't just couldn't do it. Subconsciously he reached for his wand. Anything to chase away the heavy darkness that pressed down on him. Maybe a patronus would work?  
He couldn't open his eyes.  
He couldn't feel his eyes.  
Can you feel your eyes normally?  
His brain felt like pancake mix. Where was he?  
With a bang a door opened. The sound cut through his thoughts like a steak knife through butter. Voices. There were definitely people here. With a rush feeling cam back into his body and his confused and sluggish brain protested at the amount of information it had to process.  
An eye was wretched open and a burning light was shining into it. Weakly moving his arms to stop the unwelcome light he found himself trapped. Not by his mind this time, but by straps. He felt the same straps on his ankles. He fought with his mind to keep his eyes open when the light went away.

"Subject is awake and fighting sedation that would keep a human twice his mass down. Incredible." A masculine voice said from behind him in an awestruck tone.

"Musgrave, should we increase the sedation?" another voice, masculine but less assured questioned.

"No" a different voice. A woman answered. "I do not believe the subject is lucid"

Small feelings of worry were starting to enter Harry's fog filled mind. He needed to get past it! How to get past it? His wand. He needed his wand.  
His heart started pumping as he slowly became more aware of the situation. With an involuntary groan he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Without his glasses all he could see was white. White floors, white walls, white door, white lab coats and a table, a white table that he was strapped to. He was going to get a sore back if he stayed on this for very long, the absurd thought floated across Harry's mind.

There were people, scribbling away excitably and staring at Harry.

"The subject shows a remarkable resistance to the sedative, we can only guess as to how far his abilities go."

Subject, Harry thought, he was a subject. An even worse thought came to him, abilities. Oh dear Merlin they knew about his magic.

* * *

As Harry was sinking further into unconsciousness after an increased sedative hit, Nick Fury was getting more and more frustrated.

Nearly two days ago in a remote and completely unremarkable spot in Malta their scans had picked up a burst of energy similar to that of the rainbow bridge but not, according to Jane Forster, not the exact same.

Shield agents had been sent to investigate but nothing showed up. All there was to show for the energy spike was a shallow crater, there wasn't even a hammer.

So Fury, frustrated with dead endings growled at some scientists paid a ridiculous amount to keep a close eye on the scanners and sent more agents to Malta to find him something to work with. As so far nothing at all had come up Fury turned his thoughts to the tesseract. That at least was a little more positive, things were going well. Maybe a visit with Selvig would give Director Fury something positive to focus on.

* * *

Harry emerged from the fog an indecipherable time later to get the feeling back in his limbs, with a vengeance.

Pain

Forcing his eyes open he struggled to find the source of the shocks surging through him. His wrists and ankles burned as his protesting body heaved against the restraints. Biting his lip to keep from screaming the blood ran down his cheek as he bit too hard. Electricity. That was what was surging through him, causing his muscles to seize painfully.

The pain stopped and he gasped, a feeling of relief came as he sank back onto the table.

"Session one: no reaction out of the ordinary" and expressionless voice seemed to come from all around. "Increase voltage for session two, commencing in two minutes". The voice said. A feeling of dread filled Harry; they were torturing him for his magic. He could practically hear Voldemort laughing from whatever hell he was in.

"Who are you?" Harry shouted. His voice coming out slurred.

No one answered and in two minutes electricity ran through him again. He groaned in pain and started panting, arching his back. His magic was close to the surface but he hardly notices when the lights started flickering in response to his distress. The room trembled violently and the electricity cut off.

"Unexplained electrical failures and localized seismic activity caused by session two in response to electricity. Not close to the amount of energy released at subjects location. Increase Voltage for session three commencing in two minutes." The same voice said.

Harry thrashed uselessly on the table, attempting to apparate but without his wand he was stuck. Trying his wandless magic, he focused on his arm strap but his concentration was being cut off by panic.

He started screaming after the fifth session.

* * *

**There you are, I was working on another one :) **

**Sorry about the torture, shouldn't be too much more of it... poor Harry. **

**Also our first sighting of Avenger stuff, Yipee! **

**It should move along a bit quicker now, I'll see if I can get the next chapter up nice and quick**


	5. The-Boy-Who-Was-Rescued

**I don't own anything... still. I think I'm a few years too late to make a claim to anything.**

* * *

After what felt like years trapped in the so called science facility Harry Potter was not feeling one hundred percent. He had of course experiences torture before during the war, but not like this. There was nothing he could give them to stop the nearly constant pain. He'd tried talking to them but no one ever responded and nothing ever changed.

So now he lay in the stiff, sweat soaked clothes he had first woken in, waiting for the pain to begin again.

"Commencing Session 37"

He was going to break, he could feel it. There was a growing shadow in his head that had been creeping forwards inch by inch with each 'session'. It was with an almost anticipatory feeling that Harry felt when the temperature in the room began to drop.  
Quickly going from cool to cold, and then on to freezing Harry began to shiver violently as his skin lost colour. The blood retreated from his fingers and toes leaving them blue and tingling in a desperate attempt to retain heat in his core.

The lights above blew and the bright, sterile room was plunged into darkness. It was like dementors were standing over him. A tear, the first, slid down his cheek as a feeling of absolute despair overtook him.

"Help me" he said

"Ron, Hermione please, where are you?" Harry asked. His friends had never left him alone like this before, why hadn't they found him?

The shadows closed in on him.

"Sirius, please. Mum, Dad help me" he whispered as the cold drove away the feeling in his body.

For the first time he had been here Harry gave in. He would give anything to just make it stop and with that admission his magic sparked, a small warmth inside his cold body.  
Harry felt his magic warm up inside him, at first a small glowing ember, but it grew.  
It gained heat until he started to glow with the power of his magic reacting. The room was lit up by the unnatural light inside him. The power of it was so much that Harry was quite unsurprised when he exploded.

* * *

Chris Musgrave had been returning the temperature slowly back up to normal after the subject had displayed signs of extreme energy build up so his hands were unable to shield his eyes. He cried out, his eyes blinded and in pain from the sudden, bright light emitted from the test room and through the one way glass.

Hedley and Elsdon had launched themselves behind a workbench cursing at the lack of glasses. Hedley slammed his hand down on a thankfully nearby button and a reinforced metal screen came down on the viewing window, blocked the light. Andrew Hedley made his way over to Dr Musgrave, finding him groaning and clutching at his eyes.

"Damn it" he said. "Musgrave's injured. Elsdon, can you make out the patient?"

Elsdon's strict voice answered,

"No. The light hasn't faded enough. We need to contact Magnus. That was the biggest release of energy recorded so far."

Hedley nodded his agreement.

"Lets check the subject first, that amount of energy going through a human would cause major damage" he managed to say without sounding concerned.

Dr Elsdon was the one who ended up entering the room. She decided that five minutes was enough time for the light to fade and opened the door, ready to observe the subject.

"Hedley!" She shouted, her normally expressionless face twisting into something indecipherable.

Hedley came immediately after hearing his co worker shout, preparing himself for the worst he was surprised when he joined her in the room.

"The subject has managed to re-arrange body structure. Thinking it is probably not intentional. Note: possible defensive technique" Elsdon spoke rationally into a recorder that held information from the sessions.

Hedley was slightly less logical as he stood staring shocked at his subject.

"It's," he swallowed, "he's a child"

* * *

As the young Harry lay unconscious on a white clinical table, Shield went crazy. Nick Fury has assembled a team of agents to respond to the second energy spike located but it was not the most important thing on his mind.

There was a slightly bigger problem. Phil Coulson was dead, Loki was trying to take over the world and the Avengers were missing.

Still the team was sent off to investigate and Fury could only hope they wouldn't find a second powerful god determined to conquer the human race.

* * *

Hedley and Elsdon were rushing around trying to sort out what had happened and help Musgrave. They did all this while keeping an eye out on the young subject curled up in the now ridiculously large clothes on the white table. Musgrave was sitting now with a damp cloth against his eyes, grumbling. Making sure all the equipment that had shorted out was back online Elsdon went back to the testing room and took measurements and samples of the subject.

So with everyone busy Hedley found himself a little lost. He knew he should be contacting someone about what had happened but he just found himself drawn to the boy being unsympathetically handled in Elsdon's grip. Running a hand through short brown hair he couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. The boy just looked so young. With his untidy dark hair going everywhere he reminded Hedley of his own nephew, Barney.

Shaking his head to get rid of unprofessional thoughts he didn't notice the agents behind him. He did notice however when he felt a sharp pain in the back of his head. It only worried him for a second before he hit the ground; unconscious.

The Shield agents had found the entrance and gone in unnoticed through the lacking security. After everyone in the building was down the agents split off into pairs to find and collect evidence of what had happened here.

The two by the control panel beside Dr Musgrave were getting concerned over what the controls actually did. At first they seemed innocent enough with controls with temperature and electricity marked on them but looking down the list of them, it became clear what they were being used for.

The two who had found the digital recording room were horrified.

"It's the boy" One agent said to the other who was standing guard.

"He set off the energy alerts. We have to get him out of here." The agent said.

Her partner nodded, radioing in the message.

"This is Harrow, We need the boy, We'll take him to headquarters."

The team split again and headed back in different vehicles, the scientists lying unaware in the back of an unmarked van.

A short woman with black hair looked at her field partner Harrow and almost regretfully said;

"We don't know what he's done really, or what he's capable of. We should notify Fury and take him to the secure room."

Harrow nodded,

"I know, call down Dr Miller, she'll be the best to look after him when he wakes." He said with authority.

"You don't think it would be best to just keep him asleep as he heals? He looks pretty horrible." She said back.

Pretty horrible was an understatement she thought. His sickly pale skin contrasted with his sweat soaked hair while it made the various scattered injuries stand out on his young body.

"That's not for us to decide Sophie, He'll be looked after now. You should just find the Doctor as fast as possible" Harrow said even as he walked down the hall to the secure room with young Harry safely lying in his arms.

* * *

**Not the best of chapters but I thought I better put it up, hope it's not as horrible as it looks from my computer haha.  
Anyway, enjoy :)**


	6. The-Boy-Lost-In-An-Alien-War

**I don't own anything... nothing, not even an alien.**

* * *

'Bang' Harry jerked awake. Something was wrong. His eyesight was better for one but that shouldn't change how the entire room looked; he wasn't that blind. He was also on a bed. Moving his unrestrained arms he noticed a door. It wasn't white; it was wooden and nice looking.

A movement to his right caught his attention. It was a woman, but it wasn't the one in the white lad coat. That must mean she was stuck here too, where ever here was.

"You have to try and get out of here, quick" Harry said, his voice higher than he expected.

"They'll hurt you , you have to try escape" He said.

The woman looked at his concernedly

"you're safe here, you are not at that place anymore." The woman said kindly.

"My name is Mikaela, what's your name?" she, Mikaela, asked.

She spoke with a soft voice, she was talking down at him. In fact she was quite far above him.

"Why are you so tall?" Harry asked confused.

His thoughts were still scattered, the effects of the constant sedative that had kept him barely lucid were lingering.

She looked confused at his question but then her face cleared with sudden realisation. She turned for a second before facing him with a reassuring smile.

"This may be a bit shocking" she sai, "I'm sorry, we don't know what you did but maybe you know how to fix it but we don't know. I'm sorry, I'm rambling but I've never had to deal with anything like this before and I don't know what to do and-" she cut herself off with a deep breath.

Harry stared at her apprehensively.

"maybe it's like a plaster?" she asked herself as Harry wondered if he was insane.

I'll just show you, yes that's best." She stated with sudden conviction.

She walked behind a wall that Harry hadn't noticed and returned with a mirror. She stood it on the end of his bed and Harry stared.

He was looking at himself, though he didn't understand what he was seeing. It was his emerald green eyes looking back at him. It was his wild dark hair, but the face was one he hadn't seen in years. Wide shocked filled eyes in the face of a child, a child that couldn't have been older than four or five. Lifting tiny hands he felt the cheeks that hadn't yet lost their baby fat.

"What have you done to me, was everything else not enough?" Harry said, his already high voice climbing in fear.

He backed away from both the mirror and 'Mikaela' as well as he could in the bed.

'BANG' a loud noise as though something had hit the wall outside bought both their attentions towards it.

"We should be safe" Mikaela said while throwing concerned glances at both Harry and the wall.

With an even bigger crash a section of the wall collapsed letting in sunlight. Harry jumped and swung his now significantly shorter legs off the bed. Mikaela had been too close to the wall and had been hit by a piece of flying rubble.

Harry stumbled as fast as he could towards the hole. Sunlight. For the first time in what seemed like so long he was seeing sunlight. It was so beautiful. It was even more beautiful because it's presence meant he could escape.

A little light headed, Harry thought it was a bit silly to have a prison/experiment facility in the middle of a city, especially ones that seemed at risk from alien attacks.  
Hearing a high pitched scream that he immediately associated with a banshee, Harry turned and saw a woman being chased by what looked like a cross between a blast-ended skrewt and a dinosaur. Cursing his hero tendencies Harry did the only thing he could think of.

Picking up a shard of conveniently sharp material lying nearby, Harry used the stealth of an Auror to strike the alien where he could. Pulling the shard out of the back of the aliens knee he stabbed again. It keened in agony and crumpled on the ground and the banshee woman took off, not even looking at the child that had saved her life.

Well that was easy Harry thought. Really it had been far too easy. That alien could not have been the only thing causing the chaos in the streets, in fact it looked like no one had even noticed him take it down. With a clearing head Harry took a look around. Oh, Harry thought, it was defeated so easily because it was only part of a much bigger alien army that was coming out of a hole in the sky.

Feeling quite outnumbered and disbelieving Harry decided to follow the banshee woman's example and sprint down the street for cover.

* * *

Sometime later Harry found himself taking shelter in a small hollow in a building that smelt like dead cats. He sat with his head in his arms, trying to block out the sounds of destruction that he could do nothing to stop. His technique however didn't work as a somewhat familiar scream was heard through Harry's arms. Looking up Harry had to do something. Still grasping the somewhat bloody piece of unidentifiable material (at least Harry thought the purple liquid was blood) Harry creeped out of his safe hiding hole towards the woman who attracted trouble.

Seeing as his last tactic worked rather well Harry went for the back of the knee. This time however the alien took it a little better. Twisting around the alien grabbed Harry by the arm and easily lifted him. Staring into the aliens black eyes Harry thought a little hysterically; at least I was a good distraction. Sure this was going to be the end, he frantically started stabbing it's arm.  
The alien disarmed him with a flick of his hand at Harry's and sent the impromptu weapon flying.  
The alien lifted it's own weapon with it's other hand (which was significantly bigger and sharper than Harry's own) and went to bring it down on Harry's head.

Harry closed his eyes and could no longer feel the aliens grip on his arm, hmm, he didn't feel dea-. His thoughts were cut off from his painful landing on the concrete. Well he definitely wasn't dead then.

Looking for his alien attacker he found him lying, impaled with a round metal thing, with a star on it. Odd.

On the defensive Harry whirled around at the sound of footsteps and was surprised to see a man. A man wearing, well, tights. The tight man ran to the alien and pulled out the shield with a gross sucking sound. The very tall man then turned and picked up Harry, keeping a strong grasp on the shocked 27 year old.

With one arm occupied with Harry the man managed to fend off aliens with the metal circle with the other until they reached a shop. Harry was then deposited into another man's arms and with a swift 'Stay here' the man left again, throwing himself back into the action.

Sending a glare at the person manhandling him who looked completely out of his depth holding a child, Harry was promptly set on his feet. Turning around Harry discovered it wasn't just himself and the man but a large group of scared and injured people. Turning his attention away from the people huddling together in the Cd store, the man spoke.

"Hey little man, I'm Colin. It's pretty scary out there huh?" The man asked in a shaking voice.

Harry, not in the mood to talk to the man said;

"It wasn't too bad, the torture was worse." he answered before stalking off to the back of the store, leaving a confused Colin behind him.

Hiding under a work bench, Harry tried to organize his thoughts and form a plan. Harry gave up after a few moments, his mind kept going around in circles. Deciding he would think more about it when he was free from the distraction of an invasion, exhausted from his ordeal curled into himself and tried to sleep.

* * *

Harry was woken sometime later by the sounds of screaming. Standing up on unsteady legs he looked out of his space under the bench.

People were hugging each other with tears running down their faces. Oh not screaming then. Joyful celebration.

He had somehow managed to sleep through an alien war. Well it wasn't a very long one though, he reasoned with himself, it was still light.  
People began leaving, feeling it was again safe to be on the streets, herded out into moving crowds by the police.

A man helped a woman support a person with blood running down their leg. The man stopped and murmured in her ear, she nodded and he went down to the back of the store, straight to Harry.

"It's safe now. The aliens are gone, we'll find your parents. You'll be fine, we'll all be fine." Colin said as he bent to pick Harry up.

Avoiding his hands Harry snapped back at him

"I can walk, i'm not an invalid" he said as he walked to the front of the store, Colin following.

Harry ignored the funny feeling he got when he heard Colin say they would find his parents. Putting it down to the torture Harry shook it off and followed the stream of people trailing through the city.

* * *

It turned out they weren't just wandering aimlessly when they reached a hospital. It was mostly undamaged and it looked like it was being used as a base with tents standing or being put up around it. People were everywhere, being sorted by police or being seen to by doctors and nurses. The Auror in Harry admired them for their quick organisational skills and how they had managed the people.

Harry passed mainly unnoticed as his group settled down in an out skirting tent. He watched as strangers thanked strangers and those not injured said goodbye to those they had helped before leaving to create more spaces. Nothing like impending doom to bring people together.

It didn't take long before an officer came to them, sending those not injured to another area if they wanted to stay. The officer had thwarted Harry's attempt to go with those people, so Harry was waiting with the group of injured people.

A few moments later and a man in torn and dirty clothes started coming around those still in the tent. Him and the officer sent those with minor injuries off to a first aid tent and the plain clothed man who must have been an off duty doctor then inspected the others closely.

As he got to Harry who had previously been trying to stay out of the way in the back of the tent the doctor started frowning. Harry could see him taking in his pale, unhealthy skin which was marked with the legacy of his torture; the marks around his ankles and wrists.

"What happened to you?" the man said, so quietly Harry knew the man wasn't actually talking to him.

Abruptly he turned and walked away from Harry. Confused Harry watched as he came back with a confused women in tow. While the doctor whispered furiously into her ear Harry was beginning to regret his decision to stay with the group.

The doctor left with two others who needed hospital attention. This left Harry and the woman staring at each other for a while. Blinking the woman came towards him, not too close but Harry could still see the laugh lines around her clear blue eyes. She was looking at him like he was a scared child, which well, he probably looked like.

"My name is Susan" she said clearly.

Harry sighed. This was worrying. If he had attracted the attention of a doctor (who could be looking after other patients and thought that he was important enough for their attention, he had to change her mind.

"It doesn't matter" he said trying to sound as though he was serious. "I appreciate what you are trying to do, but I understand that there are also far more critical patients"

A flash of disbelief crossed Susan's face before being carefully controlled.

"That's very true" she said with a calculating gleam in her eye.

"Tell you what, I need to give you some stuff for a few of the things I can see." Susan said, "Come up to the hospital with me and we can get you through as quickly as possible."

Feeling as though a few painkillers wouldn't really be a bad thing right now Harry nodded.

"Just a few minutes" Harry said as he glanced untrustingly at the woman beside him.

Harry was tense as they made it through the people and into the hospital. It was noisy and crowded with people running everywhere. With slightly spasmic movements Harry internally struggled with how close Susan was and the chaos of the hospital. Entering an elevator Harry focused on his breathing, trying not to hyperventilate as more people crowded in.  
With his eyes flicking nervously he didn't notice Susan's increasingly concerned glances. As the door closed Harry flew from the elevator, Susan not far behind.

After being led to an empty room Harry turned towards Susan. Feeling increasingly apprehensive he watched as Susan opened cupboards and got out bits and pieces. The door opened and a doctor walked in.

Unlike Susan or the man in the tent,, this one was wearing a white lab coat. Suddenly Harry's chest tightened. No, they couldn't possibly know that he was here. The doctor let the door close with a slight 'click' and walked over to Susan.

Harry edged over to the door, deciding painkillers were definitely not worth it. Mentally cringing at how far he had to reach to get to the handle Harry gave it a tug. It wouldn't open. Frantically he tried again. He didn't notice anyone approaching until he felt the hand on his shoulder. Jumping away from the contact and turning simultaneously he felt a slight pinching in his shoulder. Meeting Susan's apologetic eyes Harry was already drifting away when she spoke.

"Sorry little guy, you're in a bad way. We just want to help"

Harry's frantic thoughts slowed to nothingness and he couldn't help but wish that these things wouldn't happen to him.

* * *

**Whew that's a longer than normal paragraph.  
A really short Harry and Avenger interaction, but it will happen more! I promise, the next chapter is Steve's point of view.  
Thanks for reading!**


	7. The-Boy-Who-Was-FoundAgain

**Hey, I don't own anything!**

* * *

After eating Shwarma Steve Rogers found himself a little lost at what to do. It seemed like the threat was over , Loki was detained, Bruce and Tony were busy working with Thor to figure out a way to get them home and Natasha and Clint were back at shield doing something mysterious probably.

In a move that nearly gave Steve a heart attack, Tony had asked if he wanted to stay in his tower. What had surprised him nearly as much was that he had accepted. Although the tower was full of amazing things, the technology was a bit overwhelming. Every time Jarvis spoke he couldn't help looking over his shoulder, just to check no one was there.

So that was how Steve found himself wandering the ruined streets of New York. The damage really was incredible. People were walking around, picking bits and pieces of their lives off the streets. He helped some of them, glad they didn't recognise him. He guessed that without the spandex he wasn't that noticeable.

As the sun got higher in the sky Steve realised he recognized this part of the city, where the destruction was especially bad. He was struck by the memory of a child. It was as shocking now as it was when he first saw what happened. When he first saw the tiny black haired thing.

Steve had been trying to get to a chitauri that was chasing a terrified woman when the child had gotten there first. Steve had watched for a moment, amazed at how brave the boy was. Regaining his urgency, Steve had panicked when the alien tried to kill the boy. He had thrown his shield with his best aim.

After he had gotten the boy to safety the startling green eyes seemed to stick in his mind. With a renewed sense of determination Steve knew what he wanted to do.

Going over to the CD store Steve found a man rooting around in the back of the store.

"Sorry man, we're closed. Think we might be for a while." He said.

Steve smiled, "That's okay. I'm looking for someone actually. Do you know where the crowd of people here during the attack would be now?" he asked.

The man stood up looking over at Steve,

"I think your best bet would be at the hospital." He said. "I heard there's a bit of a crowd there, injured people and such. Whoever you're looking for could be there, if they have nowhere else to go"

Steve thanked the man who brushed him off,

"Times like these, people got to stick together; I hope you find who you're looking for."

Steve left the shop, glad to have talked to the man

After a few minutes walking he arrived at the hospital. Threading his way through the tents he went inside. Finding what looked like a receptionist , or at least someone who was vaguely organised, Steve approached the youngish man sitting behind a desk.

"Excuse me sir, I was wondering if you would be able to help me locate someone?" Steve asked.

Without looking up the man pointed to a wall, all the while scribbling furiously on various pieces of paper. Steve's eyes followed the finger and saw rows of photos.

"Oh thank you." He said before going over to the wall.

Scanning the pictures Steve felt his previously building hope start to fade. There were no pictures of small dark haired boys with green eyes.

Someone moved in beside him, a woman with chocolate brown hair and clear blue eyes. Eyes that had dark bags under them.

"Looking for someone?" she said, looking up at him.

"I was, I don't even know why. He's, I don't even know him." Steve said, still wondering himself why he was looking for the boy. Maybe to check that someone survived, that he had saved someone that he could put a face to.

Looking at how tired the woman seemed Steve decided that she probably didn't need to be wasting her time listening to him talk about finding someone that he didn't know, who may or may not even be here…

"I'm sorry, you're probably busy. Do you work here?" He asked.

She smiled, "its okay, we're all tired. I do work here though so I'm busier than most I guess." She said, "Listen, I'm a doctor so I see a lot of people come through. Maybe I can help you find him if he's not on the pictures."

Steve was glad he was talking to her then, even if he didn't find the mystery boy, he still met someone kind enough to help out a stranger. It made his fight for New York seem even more worth it.

"That's very kind ma'am. I'm looking for a boy. He can't be very old, black hair, green eyes." Steve's voice trailed off as the woman's face paled.

"Who are you?" she asked in a scared voice.

Steve frowned, she definitely knew something about the boy, and something about the whole situation was frightening her.

"My name is Steve Rogers. What's wrong?" He asked concerned, "Is it about the boy?"

She seemed to calm down a bit, before looking at him like she was seeing him for the first time.

"You…you're Captain America?" She said in a slightly breathless voice.

"What do you want with the boy? Who is he to you?" She asked.

Steve sighed; something was definitely going on here

"I already said I hardly know him. He caught my eye during the fight. You know where he is?" Steve said more than asked.

She nodded, "Follow me, we can talk somewhere out of the chaos" she said before walking down the hallway. She turned her head over her shoulder looking back at Steve who had started following

"I'm Susan by the way".

* * *

Steve followed Susan down into a quiet room with a single patient in it.

"Should we be in here?" Steve asked quietly throwing a glance at the man on the bed.

"Sorry but really it is the only room where no one will interrupt. Don't worry about Sam here, he's in a coma, he won't interrupt." Susan said smiling over at 'Sam'

She turned grim however as she started explaining the situation, and after a while, Steve began to understand why. It was one of the times that Steve was glad that he was a well know hero figure. He really couldn't imagine a doctor giving away any of this information otherwise.

Steve could feel his anger growing as Susan explained about the young boy's injuries. He had always hated bullies and the thought of someone doing some of the things he heard to the small boy made him want to hit someone.

As Susan finished talking both silently stood, absorbing and contemplating the information. They were interrupted however when the door swung open.

"Dr Jervois! Thank God, your patient, he's showing signs of waking!" A young nurse nearly shouted.

Susan Jervois looked surprised;

"But he should be asleep for at least another day." She said.

The nurse noticed Steve for the first time, "Hey who's this?" she asked.

Susan was almost out the door by that stage, she flapped her hand at the nurse absently.

"Doesn't matter, We need to go." She said.

Steve also brushed past the nurse (with a polite nod) before following Susan further into the hospital.

"You shouldn't be here" she said. "He may not react well to you, as you can imagine he's a bit, well, traumatised"

Steve shrugged, "Maybe he'll recognize me? Worst comes to the worst I can just tell him I'm a superhero." He said in an attempt to lighten the situation

Susan smiled weakly, "Somehow I don't think it would matter so much to him right now".

She then stopped before a door and took out a card. It turned out to be a key and Steve didn't even try to understand how it worked as she swiped it and the door opened.

"He's a bit of a flight risk. We don't want him panicking and going out there. We also don't want who ever had there hands on him last to find him again." She said in response to Steve's confused look.

She closed the door behind them and continued; "If you're going to stay, go stand in the corner please." She told rather than asked.

Obediantly Steve went over to the corner and stood watching as the action unfolded. The boy lay in the bed with people whirling around him. It was like he was the eye of some absurd hurricane. He was almost as pale as the sheets with tubes and wires attached. He didn't look peaceful as he slept, no, he looked pained.

Avidly focused on the boy Steve saw the dark eyelashes flutter and his right hand fingers moving as though to grasp something. Steve held his breath and the whole room seemed to pause. Emerald eyes, clear but pained searched the room. The boy sat up so quickly it was almost funny.

Susan subtly gestured the rest of the staff out of the room but Steve could tell by the way that the boys eyes followed her movements he knew what was going on. As the door closed and the last person was gone Susan approached the bed, watched warily the whole time by the boy.

"I really wish people would stop sedating me" the boy said suddenly in a world weary voice.

Steve was overcome with an urge to laugh, the situation just seemed so absurd. However it was muffled in response to Susan's withering glare.

"I'm sorry, but it was necessary. You were, you are very sick" she said in a gentle voice..

The boy narrowed his eyes at her following her every gesture as she moved closer.

"I'm Susan, I'm a doctor, I've been looking after you." She said.

At that the boy's eyes widened.

"Doctor?" he whispered. "I, You're one of them" he said shuffling sideways away from her.

Susan's eyes widened in response and she began backing away. However the damage was done, the boy tumbled off the side of the bed. Wrenching wires off with the fall, the boy had sent the equipment scattering.

Steve walked forward then, not knowing what to do but needing to do something as he watched the childs tiny chest rise and fall quickly with panic. The boy stood and turned, smacking into Steve's legs as he had gone to comfort him. Steve caught the boys arms before he fell to the ground again and the green eyes lifted towards his. Confusion replaced the fear for a moment.

"I've seen you before?" the dark haired boy said like a question.

Steve nodded; "Yeah you have. That was pretty brave what you did, helping that woman" he said, at loss at what to say to the boy and saying the first thing in his head.

The child nodded. "You were wearing tights then though" he said, looking like he was almost smiling.

Steve was a bit lost by the sudden mood swing,

"I'm Steve Rogers. Though you may have heard of me as Captain America; that explains the tights" he said.

The boy just looked confused.

"I've never heard of you" he said. "I'm Harry"

* * *

**Well there goes chapter seven :) I don't know how well I did Captain America's point of view but it was fun.  
Pretty much all the questions asked in the reviews will be answered in the upcoming chapters... I hope, otherwise I have some serious plot plotting to do. Anyway enjoy the chapter. **


	8. The-Boy-Who-Was-A-Man

**I don't own anything. **

* * *

Fury found himself in the odd position of being half happy (quite a rare feeling in itself) and then, as he was more upset to, half frustrated. He couldn't have imagined a better end to Loki's attempt to take on earth. The Avengers ahead exceeded all expectations in their defense of their planet and were not happy taking some time off.

However Fury still felt his frustration at the uncommon bad luck with the events that occurred during the attack. It seemed his secure room was not quite secure enough. He had been foolishly hoping that the problems with the odd energy readings could have been solved by now. Now instead he had an adult four year old lost on the streets of New York somewhere who was capable of producing and controlling high amounts of energy. Fury was not happy.

Relying now on his agents, Fury knew that with his people and resources it was only a matter of time before he was found.

* * *

Shield, of course, were not the only people looking for Harry.

Bruce Magnus was sweating furiously as he sat, perched on the edge of the very expensive leather sofa. He felt completely unprepared for the approaching talk with his boss. Not only had he lost the subject but he was also responsible for the arrests of the three scientists. It was the worst possible situation, if shield found out about the organisation nothing would ever be the same. Bruce was starting to regret his career choice. He didn't want to die.

"Sir, I'm sorry. The subject is gone" Magnus blurted out.

He was unable to say anything more. He swallowed convulsively but his mouth was as dry as cotton.

"What?" Dawkins said his voice lowering and hardening, "Do you know what this means? Life times of work will be wasted if you do not recover the patient." Dawkins said the command easy to hear in his statement.

"How did this happen?" He asked Magnus.

Magnus closed his eyes, trying to block out the inevitable. Swallowing nervously once more he explained.

Ten minutes after telling Magnus to retrieve the subject or forfeit his life Dawkins was walking to report to his boss. Trying to quash the nervous feelings Dawkins thought it was times like these that he hated his job as go-between for his boss and the company. Dawkins hoped for everyone's sake that Magnus was right and that it would only be a matter of time before they found the subject.

* * *

Harry found himself quite stuck in the hospital. It was quite better than his previous accommodation (although he still found himself jumping every time he saw a white lab coat) but the fact he couldn't leave was grating on his nerves. He was starting to look at everything that had happened with a bit of a disbelieving air, why did these things always manage to happen to him?

After Harry had finished the hospital breakfast that tasted slightly like Madame Promfrey's potions he was struck by a thought that had been lurking on the edge of his mind over the last few weeks. He may be needing a bit of care and rest at the moment but where were the American Ministry of Magic? De-aging like he had would have taken a large amount of magical energy; it must have set off some serious alarms, especially because it occurred in front of muggles at the time. Even the smaller incidences that had occurred at the, that place would have been enough to get a response. Why had no one come?

Growing irritated at the reasoning in his head that just kept going around in circles Harry tried to ignore the little voice at the back of his mind asking 'What if there was no American Ministry?' It was impossible, but it was the only explanation he could come up that explained why there weren't wizards going around obliviating people left right and center. But Harry had been to the ministry here before, visiting as an Auror, he knew that they existed and was growing panicked when he started thinking about what it would mean if it wasn't there anymore. Harry banished that line of thinking from this mind, there had to be another explanation. His mind was just making up absurd scenarios from being cooped up in the hospital.

A welcome distraction came when the door swung open and Steve came in smiling in a way that reminded Harry of Remus. Before Mr Rogers had left yesterday he had promised to come back and visit Harry, and Harry strangely enough was glad he kept his promise. The staff made him nervous, especially the doctors, there was just something about Steve that made Harry somewhat calmer around him. Even if it annoyed Harry that he was only as high as Steve's knees.

"Hey little man, have you had a good morning?" Mr Rogers asked.

Harry cringed at being called 'little man' ; it was scarily accurate. Harry stared at Steve for a while, contemplating whether or not It would be wise to tell him he was actually a 27 year old wizard. He would get nowhere if everyone continued to treat him his 'age'. He would never be able to find the so far absent Ministry, but then if he didn't believe Harry then all sorts of problems would arise around Harry's mental state.

"Harry?" Steve asked sounding concerned after no response from Harry.

"Sorry, Good Morning Mr Rogers." Harry said; mentally preparing himself to tell the truth, well part of it anyway. He needed someone to not think of him as a child, it was starting to get humiliating.

"If I tell you something will you promise to think about it seriously?" Harry said "Or not call the nurse for a strait jacket." Harry added as an afterthought, chuckling nervously.

Steve, pleased that Harry wanted to share something, immediately agreed. Feeling a little honoured that the small boy wanted to talk to him, not any of the child trained nurses or docters.

"I'm not as old as I look." Harry said in one burst, not meeting Steve's eyes.

"What do you mean?" Steve said not understanding.

"I'm actually 27." Harry said quietly.

After a moment of silence Harry looked up at Steve. The man was studying Harry as though the preeschooler would disappear and an adult Harry would magically materialise on the bed (which was what Harry had been trying to achieve since he realised what he looked like).

"You're 27?" Steve asked, sounding disbelieving.

Harry nodded, even though he had been expecting a reaction, he was getting a little worried about the twisted expression on Steve's face.

"Are you serious?" Steve asked faintly.

"No I'm Harry, Sirius is my godfather" he said, quietly laughing at the well overused joke.

He regretted it a little at Steve's even more uncomprehending expression.

"Sorry about that, not the place Harry" he said berating himself. "But yes I am serious. I don't know how to explain it to you so that it makes sense. I'm not really sure what's going on myself."

"You're 27." Steve said again.

"Yeah, well mentally, physically well that's anyone's guess." Harry said sounding hopeful at the now more contemplative expression on Steve's face. He felt a little reassured, Steve wasn't looking at Harry like he had lost his mind.

"I'm not sure I believe you" Steve said slowly "But I guess stranger things have happened." He said like he was trying to convince himself that something like this was believable.

Harry snorted, "Like what?" he asked with a hint of hysterical disbelief.

Steve, sensing the change in Harry's mood, answered.

"Well I fought a man with a red skull 70 odd years ago." Steve said.

Harry blinked a few times. "What?"

* * *

Steve returned to visit Harry over the next couple of days, something both Harry and the hospital staff were grateful for. Not only because the nurses could appreciate a fine male specimen but because Harry seemed calmer around Steve. Harry and Steve chattered about inconsequential things, never anything personal. Their conversations gained strange looks from anyone else who happened to be in the room at the same time. Fortunately everyone was to busy from the aftermath of the alien attack to worry overly much about the five year old talking seriously to Steve. Harry was glad for the distraction, though it didn't leave him much time to work on a plan.

Steve's daily absences were not going unnoticed by the other residences at the Avengers tower (as Tony Stark had began to refer to it as). Bruce and Tony had been working hard for days and Tony was feeling the need for a break. So that was how Tony found himself at the kitchen for breakfast for the first time in days.

"So Captain" Tony began. "I notice you've been mysteriously absent from here for the past few days." he said with a tone that implied an explanation was wanted.

Feeling strangely secretive about Harry, Steve found himself scrambling for an excuse.

"I've, er, I've been working" Steve managed to get say, mentally hitting himself in the head at the terrible answer.

Several seconds went by. "Working." Tony said

Steve hurriedly added, "Not a job, but helping people clean up from the attack." He said, proud that he had come up with an excuse that sounded somewhat realistic.

Tony smirked, "While that does sound like something you would do, I don't believe you." he said.

Steve frowned, he was a grown man, he didn't need to tell someone where he was every second of the day.

"Fine, I wasn't but you don't need to know what I've been doing. It's not your business." Steve said sounding authoritative before grabbing his jacket and heading to the elevator (which still made him nervous to use)

Tony snorted, watching his elevator door close. Not his business, everything was his business especially what his fellow Avengers got up to. However it would have to wait; Bruce had already started today and as much as he denied it he would feel bad if he left the good natured scientist to do all the work.

In the workroom Bruce shot Tony a glance.

"You know Steve probably won't like it when you find out what he's been doing." Bruce said in his calm voice.

"How do you know about that? Do you know what he's been up to?" Tony asked abandoning his screen for a moment to interrogate Bruce.

Bruce smiled, "I have no idea, Jarvis told me what you were talking about" he answered.

As Tony muttered derogatory things about unruly virtual butlers Bruce continued.

"Maybe there's a reason that he's not sharing with us." Bruce said carefully. He was still wary about his position in Tony's tower, he didn't want to be against the first man that wasn't afraid of everything that came with him.

"What could he possibly be hiding that he wouldn't want to share with me?" Tony exclaimed in a dramatic hurt fashion.

"It can't be that bad, maybe he's found an old bird he used to know" Tony said.

Bruce just shook his head and returned his focus to his work. Whatever Steve was hiding it wouldn't be secret for very long not that Tony Stark was curious.

* * *

At the Shield base as agent walked down the metallic hall. Opening the Directors door he cringed at Fury's "What?" before stating;

"Sir, you're going to want to hear this, it's about the boy."

* * *

In another organisation Dawkins was waiting in his study. Waving a nervous Magnus inside he began to regain a little hope that the situation could improve. The subject had been located.

* * *

**Whew I finally got out of the Christmas/New Years funk. Sorry for the long wait, back into it now so it shouldn't be too long till the next one. Thanks for the reviews, they are all really helpful. **


End file.
